This is a general question regarding how Plex manages metadata for films, TV and other videos etc.
I am considering of using a laptop to run as a Plex Media Server. But the internal SSD storage may be limited, hence I intend to store all media files on an external USB SSD / HDD. The Plex libraries can be pointed to the external drives, and build metadata accordingly (thumbnails, film & tv details, viewing and rating scores etc).
My concern is what happens when I unplug the external drive? I may swap external drivers and plug the ones with the media back in again later. I will also do this whenever I move my laptop when travelling. How do I ensure that I don’t lose all those metadata?
Do not start Plex Media Server automatically when you boot/login to your server. Start it manually after re-attaching the external drive.
When you re-attach the drive, make sure it is always the same drive letter.
If the drive letter changes, your libraries will point to the wrong location. You won’t see your media w/o rescanning, metadata will re-download, thumbnails will regenerate, etc.
In Settings → Library, disable the library scans and emptying trash automatically.
If you start PMS with the drive disconnected, you’ll see a trash can icon over all your media. This means Plex cannot find the media. If you then empty the trash, Plex will delete the media from the server database, delete metadata, play history, etc.
When you add media, perform a manual scan of the library to pick up the new additions.
Thanks for the quick reply. This makes sense. However, if I were to install the Plex Media Server on Windows 10 - doesn’t the default to automatically start the Plex Media Server whenever you start the computer? How do I remove the automatic start on login to the computer?
I run PMS on my Synology NAS, so not quite sure, but…
When you run PMS on Win10, pretty sure there’s a Plex icon in the taskbar (near the clock). Right click. Isn’t there an option to not run at startup (uncheck “run at startup” or similar)?
If not, look at Task Manager → Startup tab.
If neither of those, then someone else will have to assist.
I can only add a tip:
Assign a fixed drive letter to your media drive. Use preferably a letter high up in the alphabet.
That way the chances are rather low that it gets assigned automatically to a drive which is connected only temporarily.
If your Plex usage requires often transcoding, a laptop is a bad choice for Plex server.
As laptops are usually not built for the use case that the CPU inside is running at high load for hours on end.
Many laptops will overheat in this case, leading to
CPU throttling (video buffers)
system crashes
Even if your laptop is not throttling or crashing, you can be sure that the puny fan inside will run very loud at least while someone is watching a video.
And if this fan is running at full speed for extended times, it will also accumulate dust and fluff inside – very fast. Which then leads to the above issues eventually.
Thanks for this tip @OttoKerner - will explore doing this. Didn’t know you could assign a fixed drive letter to the media drive in Windows 10.
Transcoding happens when the Plex Server needs to convert the file format for different devices right? So I don’t think I have had to do that, as I normally view my videos on a TV screen via the Plex app on TV or some other device like Roku (granted this occasionally needs to transcode).
I only use the laptop as a Plex Server to enable me to watch some of my videos when travelling (and often don’t have good quality internet access). So I bring my video content AND Plex Media Server with me.
Happy to take advise if there is a better way to do this?
You can only know for certain if you routinely monitor the Plex Dashboard or take a look with Tautulli whether the playback is direct or transcoded.
Not all media files are created equal, and there are several factors (which also sometimes interact with each other ) which determine whether playback is direct or transcoded.
) which determine whether playback is direct or transcoded.